Hearts Rewired
by Wewritebadstuff
Summary: Two sworn enemies feel emotion begin to stir in their cold metal hearts. Will their romance prevail? Or will their love be exterminated?


_DELETE_

_DELETE_

With a final zap, the human remains fell into a charred heap. Pity they had not been upgraded. For some reason, many humans avoided the upgrade at the cost of their lives. Humans, the Cyberman thought, with their useless emotions and lack of logic. He would have found it funny, had he the ability to feel amused. Without sparing a second look at the remains (useless now, why bother?), the machine turned to rejoin the marching silver soldiers on their way to upgrade the weak human masses. Their invasion of Earth was going quite well this time: 779,031 upgraded. Of course there were casualties on both sides, but such was the nature of war. It would be better for the humans if they weren't so needlessly attached to their companions.

On that thought, static buzzed in his earpiece and a mechanical voice sounded out: _Enemy at base. Return to base. Code 24601._ Without hesitating, he programmed a new route to his base. Although he did not care about death, he hoped it was not the Doctor. The Doctor did not approve of upgrading, although the Cyberman did not understand why. Upgrading made one more powerful, intelligent, and got rid of those pesky human emotions. Needless to say, the Doctor had stopped them many times in the past, and the Cybermen would do everything in their power to stop him, despite probability showing results in his favor.

Code 24601 was not the Doctor's emergency code, though. The Cyberman was as close to confused as his emotionless programming would allow. As he deleted a few more humans (no time for upgrading), he quickened his pace. Although he was not worried, he knew something was wrong. The Cybermen did not malfunction, so the code must have been legitimate. Scanning through his files, he searched for the enemy as he marched back to the base, deleting everything in his path. He needed to return as quickly as possible.

Approximately 398.1 seconds after the initial call, the Cyberman arrived at the base in time to hear an unknown voice:

**EXTERMINATE. **

**EXTERMINATE.**

Daleks. He had files on them. The sworn enemies of the Time , from the way it was fighting the other Cybermen, it was apparent they were not united against a common enemy. The Cyberman located the file and programmed attack tactics just as the Dalek rounded the wall, its lens focusing on the Cyberman's face. They both froze, unprepared for the sight that met them. Slowly, the Dalek began to shuffle backward, averting his gaze. The cyberman quickly pointed his cybergun at the retreating Dalek.

_Halt. Do not try to escape._ The Dalek shifted uncomfortably, turning back and refusing to look at the Cyberman. Something clicked in his mechanized brain. _You are scared._

The Dalek glanced up with what may have been a sneer. **The Daleks do not feel fear.**

_Then do not run._

The Dalek refocused his lens and rolled closer to the Cyberman. Both lowered their weapons. They stood in silence for a few moments, neither knowing how to react. Their gaze locked, the Cyberman… felt. He felt a feeling not unlike being hotwired. Something in his programming had allowed some emotion to seep back into his once human brain, and he did not approve. He filed a mental note to go in for servicing. Pesky emotions…

Suddenly, they were surrounded by metallic footsteps.

_You have captured the Dalek. It must be deleted_, the surrounding masses chanted as they raised their arms, the familiar whirring signaling their charging lasers. Once again, the Dalek lowers his gaze, facing his certain deletion.

_Halt._ The whirring stops. The Cybermen turn to face the offender as the Dalek slowly looks up. _We do not know much about the Daleks. It must be… examined._ The other Cybermen processed the request before fixing their steely gazes on him.

_You are right. Take the Dalek to the examination rooms._ And with that, the other Cybermen marched away, leaving the two alone.

_You will come with me._

**The Daleks are prisoner of no one.**

_If you do not come, you will be deleted._ The Dalek froze, then hung his head and allowed the Cyberman to lead him inside of the metal building. They moved wordlessly through the hallways, their mechanical humming echoing through the steel halls. The Cyberman was lost in thought, something he had never done. Although, he mused, trying to get used to the feeling, I must have thought sometime in my past, before my upgrade…He abruptly stopped that train of thought. No. Again with the emotions. And now, to top it off, he was musing about his past. He edited his file and marked servicing as high priority. These had to stop.

They turned the corner and were met by a large steel door. Examination Room Theta-723. _We have reached our destination._ With a mechanical click, the door slid open, revealing a large room, empty save for a number of wires and switches lining the walls. _This will be your cell. Any attempt to escape will end in deletion._ The Dalek stole a last glance at the hallway before entering the cold cell.

The door slammed shut behind them. They were completely alone.


End file.
